A good shepherd looks after the sheep
Jayne (not her real name) was in Year 12 and eager to do well in her final year of her studies. She was most concerned about her Maths class and feared her results at the end of the year would not reflect her ability in this subject. She was also worried for the others in her class. The problem: their teacher was often absent from the class. The problem: their teacher was also the principal of the school and her administrative duties often drew her away from her teaching. Jayne knew the negative impact on the class of their teacher’s frequent absences. Their requests for help with their Maths seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Jayne reviewed the situation with her YCS group. If Cardijn had been present in the group, he would have reflected on the problem as one of humanisation, that is, a situation which calls for “permitting and assuring the dignity, the respect, the development of each person, of each family, and of the immense majority of human beings.” In his keynote address to the World Congress for the Lay Apostolate in Rome, 1951, Cardijn also said that we need to remember that we are not meant to live to work, but to work so that we can live.
When Jesus restored a blind man’s sight on the Sabbath, the Pharisees carried out an investigation of his action. They were intent on finding evidence that would rid them of his influence on the people. Jesus used the opportunity to speak of himself as the “good shepherd” and that his work is to look after his sheep. He said, “I have come in order that you may have life – life in all its fullness” (John 10:10).
I would like to propose that Fr Joseph Cardijn had Jesus’ revelation in mind when he reflected on the relationship between the worker and work. Moreover, the purpose of work is the good of the other. In the Gospel reading for Mass for Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time, Mark tells about the time that Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6). His focus is on the life of that man and not on the Sabbath. And isn’t this what Jayne is looking for from her teacher: that she take care of her students who express their need for her help?
As we look from the sideline, the change in Jayne’s situation that is needed is obvious: that the students have a Maths teacher who teaches them and helps them to learn and experience success. If you were Jayne, what action would you take to achieve this goal? And what did Jayne do? The school she attended was conducted by a religious order and the principal was a member of that order. Jayne wrote to the leadership team of the order and was invited to a meeting about the situation in the school. She attended the meeting and described the impact of not having regular Maths lessons on herself and her peers. At another meeting, the leadership team discussed the situation with the principal and concluded that the school should appoint a Maths teacher and the principal focus on the task of leading the school. Indeed, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and his disciples follow his example.
Author
Pat Branson
Read More
Joseph Cardijn, The world today and the lay apostolate (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
Daily Mass Readings 18 January 2023 (USCCB)
Photo
Ted / Flickr / CC BY SA 2.0